NOMAD DREAMING

Sail on, silver girl, sail on by Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way See how they shine … Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind… Paul Simon I started 2026 with an immersion in hot water. It’s something I can do because I live in a place with a choice of mineral hotsprings spas. Unfortunately, capitalist greed is king, and access to all the geothermal water in this town is commer

Fresh courage glimmers from planets. And lights the map printed with the blood of history, a map you will have to know by your intention, by the language of suns. - Joy Harjo As 2025 spools through the end days, and I am (somewhat) liberated from the demands of art shows or markets for a brief few weeks, Janis truck and I go on little tethered wanders, exploring nearby arroyos and washes, reading the stories told by the debris left after summer monsoon flooding, finding glim

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I’ve heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Migration is a very natural phenomenon. It’s built into the persistence of the universe, life on plan

Many traditional health/healing/medical systems such as Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and traditional (ancient) European herbalism, recognize the value the bitter flavor in foods for a healthy and balanced system. Modern scientific studies back this up, finding especial benefits in bitter foods for enhancing the digestive system, reducing inflammation, and helping prevent or manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and some cancers. After my spring planting of (somew

Ganesha, Guardian of the Garden has been put on surveillance duty, counting out the gold. There haven’t been any especially colorful autumn forest bathing adventures this year. The warmth/tardiness of frost, which I and a whole host of butterflies are thoroughly enjoying, has messed with the potential for much colour drama in the leaf department. Besides, I’ve been held captive by the busyness of Doing Important (and sometimes not so important) Stuff at home. The Garden of Ea

Once upon a time. At the ragged end of a day. Edited by an omniscient malevolence, words are the first to go. A piercing moon and plummeting temperatures. Define steadfastness. The remains of the day/a season/a life.

Opened the kitchen curtain one morning recently to see this. Not sure who precisely was responsible but suspicion leans heavily towards Felonious Feline, the feral roommate. As usual with this maddeningly evasive domestic cat-gone-rogue, proof of guilt is all always circumstantial. I’ve previously seen them perched with precarity on this very bird bath…. Birds of all shapes and sizes are heavily invested in the water source being upright and perpetually filled with water. Fe

With just over five weeks until my next big art exhibition at the 4 day Festival of the Cranes Art and Craft Fair in Socorro in early December, I take a few days off to celebrate Diwali, sleep on the earth amongst pea fowl, soak in mineral hotsprings and wander my feet on some paths in the Gila National Forest. I really lucked out with my timing this year for what has become a kind of annual autumn retreat to Faywood Hotsprings. At night I lay in the silky water of the geoth

There are plenty of Painted Ladies ( Vanessa cardui ) but no Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) in the west side story of a butterfly ballroom. I think I also spy some Southern Dogfaces ( Zerene cesonia ) dancing amongst the Painted Ladies. At ground level the real jewels of the season returned today. While watering the zinnias and cosmos on the west side, I discover the first saffron crocus flowers. The debutantes I’ve been waiting for! They came back! From the kitchen sink windo

It’s 6:30 in the morning and I’m out on the front porch to investigate the unusually dim dawn light of this day. Something is missing on the horizon and the light bulb in the sky needs changing. The sun has been furloughed. Turtleback mountain didn’t just borrow Table Mountain’s tablecloth , a phenomenon which happens sometimes when air currents in the Rio Grande river valley conspire to make cloud pour over the volcanic Caballo mountain range like draping cloth. No. On this

Poster by Daniel Gonzalez. ( Printgonzalez.com ) More info at southwestprintfiesta.org With the possibility of thunderstorms and heavy...

The two Leucophyllum frutescens (often called Purple Sage orTexas sage though it’s technically not a sage) in the kerb appeal project...

Finally Lake Caballo level has risen enough to paddle again. There is still a fair portage over ankle twisting rock hazards to get to the...

It happened slowly. Subtle in the beginning. First there was just one. Then two. Done after a day. If I hadn’t been paying attention they...

There I was, drinking my morning chai with the blooming moonflowers, watering the garden, like I often do at sunrise, just pottering...

Finally in these scorching dog days of summer, illuminated by Sirius, the Dog Star, the Genghis bench is almost done and will be ready to...

Well it never really was a mystery as to who is periodically leaving a trail of feathers and blood in the garden. Let’s just say A Feline...

We don’t ask to be eternal beings. We only ask that things do not lose all their meaning. Antoine de Saint-Exupery It’s been a good...

Once upon a time, oh… about 49 years ago…I met a young person who was crazy about pickles. In fact I believe pickled onions, asparagus...

It’s hotter than hell for the millionth day in a row and El Diablo is in the house. Or, more accurately, the garden, since I’m not...